


One Way to Fix a Wardrobe Malfunction

by babywarg (morphaileffect)



Series: DrPepperony Prompts and Fics [14]
Category: Doctor Strange (2016), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Attraction, Cloak of Levitation (Marvel), Dresses, F/M, Formalwear, M/M, Magic, Other, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-13
Updated: 2019-10-13
Packaged: 2020-12-14 03:37:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,062
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21009104
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/morphaileffect/pseuds/babywarg
Summary: Pepper's dress is ripped in the middle of an important ball. Good thing Doctor Strange, her boyfriend's new boyfriend, is around to help.





	One Way to Fix a Wardrobe Malfunction

**Author's Note:**

  * For [TheLadyStrange](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheLadyStrange/gifts).

> From a prompt by mistressstrange on Tumblr: "Pepper's dress gets ripped and Stephen replaces the now indecent clothing with the Cloak turning itself into a beautiful gown. She and Tony are very grateful."
> 
> My imagination is limited, so I’m visualizing Stephen’s formal getup as being the same as the one he wore at the start of the Doctor Strange (2016) movie, plus a black cape with a colorful (red) trim in [this cut](https://www.pinterest.ph/pin/476607573047360590/).
> 
> For Pepper’s new dress, I’m imagining a cut similar to [Miss Universe 2018’s evening gown](http://www.interaksyon.com/trends-spotlights/2018/12/17/140610/legend-catriona-gray-mayon-volcano-gown/). I know zip about fashion, so feel free to use your own clothing hc for this :D

“I need your help.”

These were the first words she spoke to him all that night, after urgently calling him over. And they were spoken in a dim corner of the ballroom, away from prying eyes.

She was facing him, but her torso was twisted away from him at a defensive angle. Her arms were crossed over her chest, fingers gripping her lightly muscular upper arms.

She seemed cold. Was that why she had called him over?

“Is there a problem, Ms. Potts?” Stephen asked.

As soon as her name left his lips, the awkwardness of the whole situation hit him.

They were standing close together in a shadowed corner.

He was the man Tony happened to be seeing.

She was the woman Tony happened to be in a relationship with.

_“The two of you should meet,”_ Tony once said out of his ass. _“Get to know each other better. I promise you, she’s not as intimidating as I probably make her sound.”_

Taking his impulsive boyfriend’s word for it, Stephen agreed to attend a ball to which he was invited - a ball that Pepper Potts had organized.

He had dressed his best: a black tuxedo and a bowtie, and a flashy black-and-red cape.

(- which was really the Cloak of Levitation insisting that it come with him to the party. And Stephen had to admit: the shape it chose made for a handsome accent.)

But Pepper Potts did not seem to notice the effort he put into his wardrobe. They met, she nodded to acknowledge his presence - then she turned to Tony to excuse herself, because she was very busy and had to attend to all the other guests, and left.

Stephen imagined this meant Ms. Potts was determined to ignore him all that evening.

At least, until now.

“Do you, uhm,” Ms. Potts sheepishly began, “think you could…maybe lend me your cape for a bit?”

“Of course!” Stephen was already removing the Cloak.

As she let go of herself to reach for the Cloak, Stephen saw what was wrong:

There was a huge tear in the front of her blue dress.

She was basically keeping the fabric together by keeping her arms around herself.

“This is embarrassing,” she said, as she held the Cloak up against the tear. “I bumped into one of the wait staff, and he was carrying this silly unicorn sculpture. The one Tony insisted we have at _every_ formal event. The horn snagged on my dress.”

“Are you injured?” Stephen asked on impulse.

“No,” she answered. A quick look over the flawless skin on her chest and shoulders confirmed it.

She put the Cloak on, and breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you,” she said to Stephen. “I brought a jacket, but I left it in the car. I guess I’m going to have to go all the way over there to get it now.”

“You don’t have to,” Stephen informed her. “We can fix this.”

She stared up at him, curious. “How?” she asked.

Stephen just now noticed how the blue of her dress set off the blue of her eyes.

He threw his glance over to the Cloak, which raised a corner of its cloth in what looked like a salute.

Then a touch of magic pulled Ms. Potts a few inches off the floor, spun her around.

_“Oh!”_ she managed to exclaim.

She only had to be spun _once_.

When the glamour was in place, and she had regained her footing, the torn dress and the cape she had been wearing was gone.

Both had been replaced by a form-fitting red gown, shimmering in the low light.

And, because the spell he’d used was feeling extra dramatic, she also wore red dangling earrings and scarlet stiletto heels.

Ms. Potts gasped in surprise.

“Oh my God,” she breathed.

_Oh my God,_ Stephen almost said aloud, himself.

She was _stunning_.

Few people had ever pulled that adjective out of his personal repertoire. Tonight, Pepper Potts became one of those precious few.

When Stephen remembered to breathe again, he said, “Will that do?”

He conjured a full-length mirror for her. She gasped again when she saw herself reflected on it. She turned this way and that, marveling at how well the new dress clung to her slight frame.

“It’s,” she ventured, “a little _loud_, isn’t it? People will say I’m trying to steal the show.”

Stephen chuckled. Sure, the blue dress she’d initially worn was more understated, but…was she seriously concerned about attracting _too much_ attention?

“Ms. Potts,” he assured her, “you already stole the show the moment you walked in. Now, you’re just wearing something different.”

She looked at herself in the mirror again, thoughtfully. Then, before Stephen’s very eyes, she affected the air of someone who was _born_ in that red dress. Someone utterly comfortable in her own skin, who could attract anyone she wanted.

She turned back to Stephen, reached for his hands.

“Thank you,” she said again.

And Stephen, desperately attracted, didn’t want her to let go, ever.

But she did. She had to. She still had an entire room to dazzle.

And so she stepped out into the light.

It seemed that all eyes turned to her as soon as she did, including Tony’s.

She glided across the ballroom, going about her duties, but with renewed calm and confidence.

Stephen thought he saw a flush across her cheeks, but couldn’t tell if it was natural, or part of the glamour. Either way, it only made her sexier.

“Glad to see you two have been getting along.”

This was from Tony. The man sidled up to Stephen, slipped a hand into his.

“You know, I bought the old blue dress for her birthday a few years ago,” he confided. “I think that one was better.”

“Red is her color,” Stephen matter-of-factly replied. “Your blue dress can suck it.”

A thoroughly amused smirk touched Tony’s lips. “Are we to have a lover’s quarrel about this, Doctor?” No mistaking the flirt in his voice. “A duel to the death?”

“Winner gets to ask her out,” Stephen coyly joked.

Tony chuckled, let go of Stephen’s hand so he could wrap an arm around the man’s slender waist and draw him closer.

“She already told me she thinks you’re ‘intriguing,’ ” he disclosed in a whisper. “That’s not something we have to fight each other over.”


End file.
